Kyle LambThe Biz of Baseball, part of the Business of Sports Network. From contracts to stadiums, television to radio, if it's baseball outside the diamond, we cover it.http://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=82&Itemid=191
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:46:34 +0000Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Managementen-gbLamb: Dreaming of the Florida Marlins and Prince Alberthttp://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4874:lamb-dreaming-of-the-flordia-marlins-and-prince-albert&catid=82:kyle-lamb-article-archive&Itemid=191
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Dream the impossible dream: Whatif Albert Pujols played for, of all teams, the Marlins?

It’s not exactly The House That Hanley Built, but when the Florida Marlins move into their new ballpark in 2012, a task overdue by nearly 15 years, it will be hard not to note it was a move precipitated with Hanley being the focal point.

But let’s think outside the box a moment, and just contemplate a different scenario for the Marlins. Certainly the following is extremely unlikely, but let’s play a game of “what if.” For just a moment or two, let’s set aside reality and ponder a Marlins franchise making a big play for relevance once again.

As the Marlins prepare for the final year in Joe Robbie / Pro Player / Dolphin / Land Shark / Sun Life Stadium (whew, that was a mouthful), they’ll do so with their brightest star being more Hollywood than Miami—enough for a starring role in HBO’s Entourage. Making matters worse, the standoffish icon’s image, tainted as it is, now has to withstand a 2010 season that saw an OPS drop by 100 points from the previous year.

Even this diva wasn’t immune from the hitting-suppressed landscape around baseball this past year. He still hit .300 with 21 homers, but he also got the manager run out of town.

But the Marlins gave Ramirez a 6-year, $70 million extension in May 2008 with the goal of his being the face of the franchise as they move into their new park. Sometimes it feels like the $15 million they’ll pay him in 2012, the year the park opens, will be better suited being donated to the Columbian Cartel.

So it begs the question: do the Marlins need a new face—perhaps a kinder, gentler image with fewer blemishes? The Marlins should look west to find their royalty.

Prince Albert.

Albert Pujols is heading into his final season with the Cardinals, after a no-brainer $16 million club option was exercised by St. Louis a few weeks ago for 2011. The Cardinals will undoubtedly continue to attempt to ink Pujols to an extension, but thus far have seemingly been unsuccessful on that front. He says he wants to remain in St. Louis, but one wonders what the holdup is.

It’s not likely Pujols has any doubts about what the market will offer. It seems that nearly $30 million per annum awaits his future. One wonders, then, are the Cardinals willing to pay that bounty?

A few weeks ago, several financial statements were leaked, causing shock and awe reverberations through the baseball community. Though the home front is all quiet in preparation for that National Pastime’s postseason, the winds of change are soon to pick up steam.

After the season, the MLB Player’s Association and Major League Baseball are due for earnest preliminary discussions for the next collective bargaining agreement. The Deadspin Scrolls, as I’ll call them, left some ownership seething over the (self) reported lack of spending by their colleagues. I can only imagine how the Player’s Association will respond.

As a refresher course, Deadspin leaked financial statements and balance sheets for six different Major League clubs. The gist of the documents suggested that some of these clubs were gratuitous recipients of Major League Baseball revenue sharing, but not necessarily aggressive spenders of those funds. Since Major League ownership is not privy to other clubs’ financials, owners were left staring at these documents in disbelief with the rest of us.

The affects of these leaks are not completely known and won’t be for some time. But rest assured hopeless romantics of a Major League salary cap were dealt yet another blow in the name of fruitless passion. Love hath no fury like revenue payors scorned.

The shock has worn temporarily. But it’s likely we’re merely inside the eye wall of “Hurricane Labor”, and the retribution for these documents will unleash the fury of a much stronger storm on the other side of the wall. The basic agreement expires following the 2011 season meaning the next 6-8 months are vital in the bargaining process.

I used to be in the camp that firmly believed a salary cap was key to the long term success of baseball. I’ve gradually come off those concerns. Instead, I actually support the implementation of a minimum salary tax. Make no mistake, I believe a tax threshold needs to be implemented on violators of both the high end (looking right at you, Yankees) and low end. However, the cries for a salary cap are likely to dwindle in the coming years, so it’s time to concentrate on the issues that are easier to get corrected.